The applications are in and the decisions are being made. In the meantime, The New York International Fringe Festival has set the dates for its downtown summer festival for Aug. 13-29.

FringeNYC, now in its eighth year of presentation, has grown into the largest multi-arts festival in North America, presenting nearly 200 stagings of international emerging theatre troupes and dance companies. Among the more famous of Fringe alumni are the Off-Broadway stagings of Never Swim Alone, 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com, Debbie Does Dallas and the upcoming The Joys of Sex. Matt & Ben, which began at the Fringe, continues its open-ended run at Off-Broadway's P.S. 122 and just began its Los Angeles run. The grande dame of all Fringe alum is the Tony Award-winning Urinetown which graduated to Off-Broadway, then Broadway and has since toured across the country.

Tickets to the Fringe Festival will be $15. For more information including volunteer details, call (212) 279-4488 or visit the website at www.FringeNYC.org.